Dilys
at G
as in Good H as in Happy links to two great articles in the
blog Open Loops. The first
lists 16 reasons why employees underperform when given a task (taken
from
this book), and the second
lists 10 reasons why managers underperform (taken from this
book):
Employees:
They don't know why they should do it.
They don't know how to do it.
They don't know what they are supposed to do.
They think your way will not work.
They think their way is better.
They think something else is more important.
There are no positive consequences for doing the task.
They think they are doing it when they, in actuality, are not.
They are rewarded for not doing it.
They are punished for doing what they are supposed to do.
They expect a negative consequence for doing it.
Their poor performance does not receive a negative consequence.
There are obstacles beyond their control.
Their personal limits prevent them from completing the task.
Personal Issues.
The task cannot be done.
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Managers:
Procrastination
Perfectionism
Analysis Paralysis
Lack of Confidence
Dislike of Risk
Loss of Passion
Wrong Priorities
Disorganization
Failure to Involve Others
Lack of Commitment
|
These lists brought the synthesist out in me. We are all, to some
extent, both employees (even CEOs work for their customers) and
managers (we all self-manage much of our work). And our behaviour in
our work lives is often not that different in our home lives: In both
roles there are similar reasons why we don't do what we should do. And
having worked with a Getting
Things Done approach now for six months, I've become aware
that there are many (often very good) reasons why we don't do what we
should, even when we know exactly what we should do.
Here's my synthesized list of the
nine reasons we don't do what we should, in all aspects of
our lives, in what I think is order of prevalence.
- Fear: We
are legitimately
afraid we will fail, or that we don't have the needed skill, or that
others will criticize us. We are afraid, most of all, of the
consequences of failure -- humiliation, ridicule, loss of financial or
employment or social status. It isn't risk we dislike,
it's failure.
- Lack of
Self-Confidence: We are afraid we will fail, even though these fears are
groundless. This reason is hard to distinguish from #1
above when #3 below is in play. Am I afraid because I'm really pushing
my limits, or because people around me have been putting me down?
- Lack of
Knowledge: We don't know what to do, or how or why to do
it, or, through ignorance, we see obstacles that don't really exist or
which have simple workarounds. Or we disagree with others on what
should be done -- either because we lack knowledge or because they do. How about
analysis paralysis -- is there such a things as too much knowledge?
I don't think so -- when I feel paralyzed my indecision usually stems
from fear or lack of self-confidence, and I keep gathering more
knowledge hoping it will overcome the fears (it won't). A lot of
tension (and waste) in the workplace is caused when managers lacking
knowledge tell more knowledgeable subordinates to do the wrong things.
That's a structural problem that generally becomes endemic in
organizations as they get larger and more hierarchical.
- Trying to
Do Too Much Alone: We in the West live in such an
individual-oriented world -- cowboys are our heroes, and relying on
others is seen as weakness. Reward systems, for all their talk of
teamwork, generally pit each of us against others and encourage us to
compete instead of cooperate. And when we work alone we are able to be
selfish -- we don't have to accommodate others' wants and needs.
- Trying to
Do Too Much: Most of us allow ourselves to set
expectations far too high for what we can accomplish well and
reasonably in a fixed amount of time, and allow others to set
unreasonable expectations of us. Despite the popularity of Getting
Things Done and other self-organizing tools, I think what appears to be
poor organization and lack of priority setting is most often just
trying to do too much. The most successful people I know do one or two
things really well, and any time left over they use serendipitously.
They keep no lists.
- Loss of
Self: We can get so caught up in trying to please others
(for various reasons -- love, job promotion, sense of responsibility)
that we stop pleasing ourselves, and our whole sense of self suffers,
to the point we are dreadfully unhappy but no longer know why. This is
almost the opposite of #4, but closely intertwined with #2 as well.
- Lack of
Energy: It is human nature (and the nature of all species)
to do as little as possible to be happy. Genuine complacency means you
are not doing anything else because you are genuinely happy
doing nothing. Complacency isn't not doing what you think you should,
so it doesn't belong on this list. But complacency, procrastination and
lack of energy are easy to confuse (and often all three bring
accusations of 'laziness' from others). Procrastination is usually
driven by one or more of #1 to #6 above, and the procrastinator rarely feels complacent
or happy. But sometimes we know something needs to be done but we
simply lack the energy, the drive, the spirit to do it. That can be
caused by #4 or #5 above, but it may simply be more personal --
physical malaise or emotional exhaustion.
- Lack of
Reward: Management and psychology texts would put this
much higher on the list, but I believe generally we set our own
rewards, and external incentives and threats are rarely effective at
getting people to do anything for any sustained period of time, if any
of the other problems on this list is in play. But we do all need some
fun in our lives, and unless we reward ourselves regularly
we'll burn out, and #7 or #6 will start blocking us from getting things
done.
- It Can't
Be Done: One of the things that interested me most about
the Getting Things Done approach was adding to your 'to do' lists the
longer-term 'wish list' projects that you've always wanted to do, and
would regret if you died without doing, but have never got around to
starting. The approach suggests you put these things on a special list
and break them into manageable steps and commit to doing the next step in each
project on a regular basis. While this makes sense in theory, I wonder
whether users of this approach actually make it work. I suspect some of
these projects are really just dreams, things that, if we were to be
brutally honest with ourselves, have almost no likelihood of being
accomplished in our lifetimes. By putting them on the list, are we
inspiring ourselves to reach higher, or just setting ourselves up for
disappointment? A debate about whether impossible dreams are healthy,
or just a mechanism to allow society to subjugate us (and get us to buy
lottery tickets) is beyond the scope of this article (though it might
be an interesting one -- what do you think?), but there's no question
that one reason we don't do things is that we don't believe they (or
what they are leading to) can be achieved.
So what do we do about these things? How do we overcome these obstacles
to doing what we should do? For the most part, the answers are pretty
obvious once we
recognize which of the nine reasons are in play. Lack of
knowledge (#3) requires more research, more sharing of information.
Trying to do too much alone (#4) requires learning to collaborate, and
to delegate. Trying to do too much (#5) requires learning to say no,
and to focus on doing
one or two things really well. Lack of energy (#7) requires
some introspection as to the cause -- physical (in which case the
solution may be improvements to diet or exercise) or emotional (in
which case meditation or a life change may be in order). Lack of reward
(#8) requires being good to ourselves, and to others, in balance.
Trying to do the impossible (#9) requires some navel-gazing, and either
stopping trying to do it (which may require some candid discussion with
others who may have put it on our list), or changing it (or our lives)
in some significant way so that it becomes possible, or recognizing it
is just a dream and focusing energies on other, attainable things,
until and unless circumstances dramatically change.
The solution to #2 and #6 is much more difficult -- these causes of
inaction are part of what we are,
and will take a long time to overcome. Perhaps just realizing that they
are the reason why we're not doing what we should is an important first
step.
And there is no solution to #1, except courage. |
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
